After three leaderless weeks full of soured relations and shattered ambitions, Republicans in the House of Representatives have succeeded in electing a Speaker of the House. Mike Johnson (51) from Louisiana may conduct negotiations with the White House and the Senate on behalf of the narrow majority of 221 of the 435 members on matters such as aid to Ukraine and Israel and the budget – and the related threat of a new shutdown from the government next month.
The staunchly conservative and relatively unknown Johnson received unanimous support from his Republican colleagues during a plenary vote on Wednesday. They previously torpedoed the candidacy of three more experienced and renowned party members.
Exhaustion and shame
The House has not had a speaker since eight radical right Republicans speaker Impeach Kevin McCarthy after making a deal with Democrats to keep the federal government “open.” Afterwards, the faction continued to argue about his succession. The final choice for Johnson seems mainly to be the result of exhaustion and shame that the party could not form unity in the midst of the Gaza war. The fact that he has no internal enemies was most often cited as the reason for his elections. He also secured the important support of former President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Democrats fear that the Republican group under Johnson is moving to the right. He is passionately committed to a total ban on abortion. He recently voted against further financial support for Ukraine. He also helped Trump in 2020 in his attempts to overturn the result of the presidential election.